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Global CME/CPD Newsletter

Keeping Up Around the World

July-August 2017

Dear CME/CPD Colleagues,

Summer vacations are here. Do our minds stop working? Learning continues wherever we are. Enjoy the time with family and friends, with patients and colleagues. Make every moment yours. -- Lew Miller

How well do we evaluate training of doctors?

Maybe we are flogging our medical education systems unnecessarily, but Dr. Arcadi Gual, editor of the prestigious Spanish journal, Revista de la Fundacion Educacion Medica, has some serious concerns that -- of course -- may not extend to the med ed systems in all countries,:

"Since we unhesitatingly accept that our premises are correct -- healthcare is good, health outcomes are good -- we come to the conclusion that doctors' training is also good. ... I would ask the reader to reflect: how do we know that degree training ... is good? Is specialist training good? ... What about continuing education? How do we know? ... We can only say ..., good if we have carried out some kind of evaluation. I am not talking about assessing students ... but about evaluating the training processes themselves, ... the teaching staff and health outcomes."

Dr. Gual notes that in Spain, 17 offices, one for each autonomous community, evaluate CME activities, "but it should be kept in mind that those ... are the tip of the iceberg of the system of continuing education.... The participation of experts in evaluation is conspicuous by its absence."

Here in the U.S., the AMA has been evaluating the work of medical schools and residencies more carefully than ever. And the Accreditation Council for CME has just released its 2016 report, in which ACCME President Dr. Graham McMahon notes that "clinicians are increasingly engaged in education that promotes quality, safety and the evolution of healthcare." Some 1800 providers are accredited, mostly by state medical societies, and offered almost 159,000 activities in 2016.

Would Dr. Gual's concern apply to any of these organizations? Or does ACCME's evaluation of providers offer assurance of the value of US CME? What's the situation in other parts of the world? Write me at lew@wentzmiller.org.

More U.S. docs paying for their CME

In 2016, participant registration fees paid for 54% of the $2.5 billion spent on US CME, the ACCME report said. Commercial support accounted for 28%, advertising and exhibits 16%. About 90% of CME activities received no commercial support -- a significant change over the past 10 years.

Most hours of instruction were still in courses and scheduled series, despite some increase in internet enduring materials. Both total hours of instruction and interactions by physicians and other learners were noticeably higher in 2016 than 2015.

Physician membership organizations accounted for 41% of revenue; publishing/education companies for 35%, even though they were only 7.6% of providers (Most were hospitals).

Almost all activities were designed to change competence, 56% to change performance and 31% to change patient outcomes. However only 11% were analyzed regarding patient outcomes.

In brief: Patients with multimorbidity; A novel blended learning format;Communities of practice in Hong Kong

A UK report notes that patients with multiple longterm conditions often receive a worse experience of the health and social care system. It further suggests reforms to the GP role in caring for such patients: better ongoing relationships with practice teams; coordinated, holistic care; medicine reviews with pharmacists, and more.

Addressing a similar problem -- management of patients with cardiometabolic conditions -- the American Academy of Family Physicians created Performance Navigator, a novel blended learning format of enduring online and synchronous live educational modules. These combine performance improvement and quality improvement methodology with peer-to-peer deficit focused interactions. Result: Improved systems leading to better outcomes.

In Hong Kong, solo primary care physicians were recruited to form communities of practice to solve clinical problems. Members found they needed to keep the groups small (10 or less), build trust rapidly among doctors they knew, bring in trusted specialists as speakers, and address common problems.

When are doctors too old to practice?

The Wall Street Journal recently reported on efforts in hospitals around the U.S. to screen older physicians for signs of cognitive decline or dementia -- not without an argument.

Stanford Health Care, in Palo Alto CA, losing the battle over a mental-competency exam, now requires peer reviews of physicians over 75. Dr. Saul Rosenberg, 89, a well-known oncologist, still sees patients. "It is very upsetting that they make it difficult to get my hospital privileges," he says. "What about younger doctors who are alcoholics or drug addicts?"

A Dutch randomized controlled trial of peer review practices to reduce test ordering and prescribing rate among GPs didn't work, according to a recent article.

However, the rate of increase was reduced. Tests went up only 3% in the intervention arm vs. 15% in the control; prescriptions rose only 20% compared to 66%. Authors indicate that controlling healthcare costs is no easy matter!

Managing MedEd Processes Globally: A WMGS service

Is your pharmaceutical or medical device company considering how to manage grants or related activities for global or regional independent HCP educational programs? Some MedEd departments are moving in that direction to provide uniform standards of providers, control quality and control costs

. These are issues we can help you deal with:

I. What are your internal roadblocks and external pitfalls?

II. How do you extend your current grant and related processes to other countries / regions

III. Do you need help developing methods to manage grant activities and measure outcomes?

Maybe I am pushing the envelope to question what we are doing as CME professionals. But if there's a chance that we can improve health outcomes and longevity by going beyond the boundaries we have set for ourselves, perhaps we should examine what we have been ignoring. And decide whether we should no longer do so. -- Lew MillerPS: Check our new feature, Articles of Interest, to help you find more value from WMGS!

Is CME failing its mission? Do we care?

Our last issue raised the question of whether CME was doing an adequate job of addressing the values delivered by medical care. This issue goes further. A draft paper from the US National Academy of Medicine, addressing "Vital Directions for Health and Health Care", reminds us that "medical treatment has a relatively small effect on the overall health and well-being of the population." Yet that is where we in CME spend most of our efforts -- improving the clinical skills of healthcare professionals. Should our mission be broader?

Shortfalls in medical care, the report says, account for only about 10% of premature deaths overall; the sickest 5% of patients account for 50% of all healthcare costs. What accounts for the other 90% of early deaths?

Behavior patterns -- 40%

Genetic predispositions -- 30%

Social circumstances -- 15%

Environmental factors -- 5%

Without addressing CME, the report still points out directions in which we can assist healthcare professionals to gain improved knowledge, skills -- and partnerships:

Guidelines and decision support tools to encourage physicians to engage with each patient on their personal context and goals in making care decisions.

Most effective approaches to communicate with patients not only on clinical care but also on behavioral, social and environmental issues that can shorten their lives.

How to integrate health and social service providers to improve health status.

Why is the latter so important? In the US, the report states, "a person's ZIP (postal) code is perhaps the strongest predictor of health outcomes and life expectancy."

The challenges before CME professionals are immense. Are we ready for this task -- or content to keep on dealing with the 10%, medical treatment? Comments to lew@wentzmiller.org.

One medical team's response to broadening its care for patients

CME wasn't the driver of radical redesign at the Bellin Health Ashwaubenon family practice in Green Bay WI, but CME professionals could be pushing similar efforts in other communities. Here's what the practice of 14 clinicians and 70 staff members did for their patients to improve value:

Obtained leadership buy-in not only for the education sessions but also for physical space redesign when needed to enable teams to work together

Result: quality improvement and cost reduction -- means to effective population health management. Goal: Expand the program to all of Bellin's 32 practice locations.

In brief: Webinar re online CME in Latin America; GAME survey puts networking as top priority; Top meeting locations in 2016 headed by Paris, Vienna

Interested in online CME in Latin America? Learn about this growing area by signing up for a free webinar to be presented May 24 at 10 am (EDT) by Global Alliance for Medical Education (GAME) board member Alvaro Margolis MD MS of Uruguay. Go to http://game-cme.org/Webinars.

Speaking of GAME, the organization recently conducted an online survey of members and non-members to determine new directions. Respondents, mostly from provider organizations in US and Europe, would find of most value networking, particularly with global thought leaders, and learning more about CME requirements around the world. Top choices for meeting location: New York, London and Amsterdam.

And the International Congress and Convention Assn. (ICCA) just released top cities for meeting locations in 2016: Paris, Vienna, Barcelona, Berlin and London were the top five, though as a country USA hosted the most.

Disclosure results in Europe: not topnotch

Disclosure of pharma payments to physicians in Europe is highly uneven, reports the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations (EFPIA).

In 2016, disclosure rates ranged from 15% in Spain to 89% in Sweden. EFPIA is trying to improve the rates and to have a central platform in each country to forestall legislation. One barrier: Health care professionals who retuse to disclose. In the UK, only 55% agreed to release the data.on what they were paid.

A report from industry leaders in the ACEhp Almanac (available to members only) describes how companies have changed CME funding over the past 10 years. They seek:

* Evidence that a provider can go beyond a "cookie-cutter" approach* Detailed needs assessment data* Details of how the program will address the gaps identified* Robust outcomes measurements* Innovation, e.g., patient education, quaility or performance improvement programs, partnerships where appropriate

Global CME/CPD Newsletter

Keeping Up Around the World

March-April 2017

Dear CME/CPD Colleagues,

Dennis Wentz and I, when receiving the first Miller Wentz Lifetime Achievement award recently, challenged the Alliance for Continuing Education in the Health Professions (ACEhp) to take on a new role: Becoming part of a new Alliance for Healthcare Quality and Improvement. The article below points out the need for CME professionals to broaden their horizons beyond clinical topics. -- Lew Miller

Does CME have a role in improving healthcare value?

For the most part, continuing medical education programs have focused on improving the knowledge and skills of physicians in areas of clinical care of their patients. Now, in the US, the government office that controls Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) is changing payments to physicians from fee-for-service to models that emphasize improvements in patient health and smarter control of costs. Better value will result in incentive bonuses; nonparticipation in penalties.

View value-based care as an opportunity to reinforce a team-based approach that emphasizes quality, accessibility and affordability of care.

Be proactive in adopting new payment models that lead to patient-oriented services keeping patients safe while fighting cancer and away from costly hospital visits.

Prepare for learning curves. This is where CME professionals can help the team develop new knowledge and skills to identify patients at highest risk, and look for innovative ways to support their complete health and well-being.

Commit to practice transformation. This involves greater patient engagement, addressing disparities in access to care, and increased support for navigating the healthcare system clinically and financially.

Rethink the partners and tools to support these efforts. This may mean changing not only billing practices but also clinical charting and better analytics.

There is a wealth of data pointing to variations and errors in care that can be corrected. For example, one study of post-acute surgical care showed that costs for episodes of care for 3 common procedures may threefold based on physician orders. Another notes that medical errors are the third leading cause of death in the US; changes in the delivery system can reduce these. And that's important to providers. The US government has cut payments to 769 hospitals with high rates of patient injuries.

CME professionals in academic medical centers and hospitals have the opportunity to seize the initiative in developing outcomes-based programs that improve the capability of the healthcare team to deliver high value care to their patients -- and be compensated for it.

EU challenge: Older citizens with chronic diseases

Life expectancy in the European Union has reached 80 years-plus, an increase of 6 years since 1990 -- but the estimate is that 50 million people, mostly older and less well educated, still suffer from several chronic diseases; more than half a million die prematurely. That information appears in a new report , based on an interview with Dr. Vytenis Andriukaitis, European Commissioner of health and human safety. It points a direction for medical specialty societies and their CME directors to emphasize in European, national and local programming.

The report calls for better public health and prevention policies as well as more effective health care to "save hundreds of thousands of lives and billions of euros each year in Europe." Dr. Andriukaitis calls for "changes in how we deliver health care, including developing eHealth, reducing hospital stays and organizing services better in primary and community care." He noted that poor Europeans are on average 10 times more likely than affluent ones to have problems in getting proper care for financial reasons. Another report showed that the Netherlands, UK and Germany have strengthened primary care systems, with improved use of teams and diseases management programs.

Now bribery in India has taken a new turn: Doctors are now getting authorship of studies in internationally peer-reviewed journals as gifts, according to a study in the Indian Journal of Medical Ethics. To say nothing of plagiarism and falsification of data. What next?

The Society for Academic Continuing Education (SACME) will hold its 40th anniversary meeting May 16-20, 2017, in Scottsdale AZ. The theme is "Cutting Edge CPD/CME: US and Beyond US Borders".

A CME professional recently collaborated with his webinar audience to develop 3 "must-do" directions for CME: (1) Shift the focus from information delivery to performance. (2) Be current, valid, reliable and evidence-based. (3) Promote practice and/or patient improvement, not just research findings.

China's healthcare landscape is changing

The Chinese government is working to reshape healthcare delivery, says a recent article. Changes include:-Building a primary care network-Pushing resources from Tier III hospitals to county and district hospitals.-increasing emphasis on cost containment-Permitting pharma companies to partner with provider groups to manage careSome US CME providers have found a way to participate in this huge market -- but the obstacles are many.

The Global Assn. for Family Doctors (WONCA) recently surveyed members in 78 countries on their attitudes toward CME.

Major motivations to do CME are personal/ professional interest, improving efficiency, improving confidence and career progression -- but "mandates" was not high on the list.

What would encourage FPs to spend more than the current average of 1-4 hours a month? More relevant and accessible resources, more time, accreditation of CME, and financial rewards.

Smartphones are the preferred method of accessing data, particularly when with a patient. An Iran study showed that doctors with perceived behavioral control and a positive attitude toward e-learning led them to use more eCME.

Global CME/CPD Newsletter

Keeping Up Around the World

March-April 2017

Dear CME/CPD Colleagues,

Dennis Wentz and I, when receiving the first Miller Wentz Lifetime Achievement award recently, challenged the Alliance for Continuing Education in the Health Professions (ACEhp) to take on a new role: Becoming part of a new Alliance for Healthcare Quality and Improvement. The article below points out the need for CME professionals to broaden their horizons beyond clinical topics. -- Lew Miller

Does CME have a role in improving healthcare value?

For the most part, continuing medical education programs have focused on improving the knowledge and skills of physicians in areas of clinical care of their patients. Now, in the US, the government office that controls Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) is changing payments to physicians from fee-for-service to models that emphasize improvements in patient health and smarter control of costs. Better value will result in incentive bonuses; nonparticipation in penalties.

View value-based care as an opportunity to reinforce a team-based approach that emphasizes quality, accessibility and affordability of care.

Be proactive in adopting new payment models that lead to patient-oriented services keeping patients safe while fighting cancer and away from costly hospital visits.

Prepare for learning curves. This is where CME professionals can help the team develop new knowledge and skills to identify patients at highest risk, and look for innovative ways to support their complete health and well-being.

Commit to practice transformation. This involves greater patient engagement, addressing disparities in access to care, and increased support for navigating the healthcare system clinically and financially.

Rethink the partners and tools to support these efforts. This may mean changing not only billing practices but also clinical charting and better analytics.

There is a wealth of data pointing to variations and errors in care that can be corrected. For example, one study of post-acute surgical care showed that costs for episodes of care for 3 common procedures may threefold based on physician orders. Another notes that medical errors are the third leading cause of death in the US; changes in the delivery system can reduce these. And that's important to providers. The US government has cut payments to 769 hospitals with high rates of patient injuries.

CME professionals in academic medical centers and hospitals have the opportunity to seize the initiative in developing outcomes-based programs that improve the capability of the healthcare team to deliver high value care to their patients -- and be compensated for it.

EU challenge: Older citizens with chronic diseases

Life expectancy in the European Union has reached 80 years-plus, an increase of 6 years since 1990 -- but the estimate is that 50 million people, mostly older and less well educated, still suffer from several chronic diseases; more than half a million die prematurely. That information appears in a new report , based on an interview with Dr. Vytenis Andriukaitis, European Commissioner of health and human safety. It points a direction for medical specialty societies and their CME directors to emphasize in European, national and local programming.

The report calls for better public health and prevention policies as well as more effective health care to "save hundreds of thousands of lives and billions of euros each year in Europe." Dr. Andriukaitis calls for "changes in how we deliver health care, including developing eHealth, reducing hospital stays and organizing services better in primary and community care." He noted that poor Europeans are on average 10 times more likely than affluent ones to have problems in getting proper care for financial reasons. Another report showed that the Netherlands, UK and Germany have strengthened primary care systems, with improved use of teams and diseases management programs.

Now bribery in India has taken a new turn: Doctors are now getting authorship of studies in internationally peer-reviewed journals as gifts, according to a study in the Indian Journal of Medical Ethics. To say nothing of plagiarism and falsification of data. What next?

The Society for Academic Continuing Education (SACME) will hold its 40th anniversary meeting May 16-20, 2017, in Scottsdale AZ. The theme is "Cutting Edge CPD/CME: US and Beyond US Borders".

A CME professional recently collaborated with his webinar audience to develop 3 "must-do" directions for CME: (1) Shift the focus from information delivery to performance. (2) Be current, valid, reliable and evidence-based. (3) Promote practice and/or patient improvement, not just research findings.

China's healthcare landscape is changing

The Chinese government is working to reshape healthcare delivery, says a recent article. Changes include:-Building a primary care network-Pushing resources from Tier III hospitals to county and district hospitals.-increasing emphasis on cost containment-Permitting pharma companies to partner with provider groups to manage careSome US CME providers have found a way to participate in this huge market -- but the obstacles are many.

The Global Assn. for Family Doctors (WONCA) recently surveyed members in 78 countries on their attitudes toward CME.

Major motivations to do CME are personal/ professional interest, improving efficiency, improving confidence and career progression -- but "mandates" was not high on the list.

What would encourage FPs to spend more than the current average of 1-4 hours a month? More relevant and accessible resources, more time, accreditation of CME, and financial rewards.

Smartphones are the preferred method of accessing data, particularly when with a patient. An Iran study showed that doctors with perceived behavioral control and a positive attitude toward e-learning led them to use more eCME.

Global CME/CPD Newsletter

Keeping Up Around the World

March-April 2017

Dear CME/CPD Colleagues,

Dennis Wentz and I, when receiving the first Miller Wentz Lifetime Achievement award recently, challenged the Alliance for Continuing Education in the Health Professions (ACEhp) to take on a new role: Becoming part of a new Alliance for Healthcare Quality and Improvement. The article below points out the need for CME professionals to broaden their horizons beyond clinical topics. -- Lew Miller

Does CME have a role in improving healthcare value?

For the most part, continuing medical education programs have focused on improving the knowledge and skills of physicians in areas of clinical care of their patients. Now, in the US, the government office that controls Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) is changing payments to physicians from fee-for-service to models that emphasize improvements in patient health and smarter control of costs. Better value will result in incentive bonuses; nonparticipation in penalties.

View value-based care as an opportunity to reinforce a team-based approach that emphasizes quality, accessibility and affordability of care.

Be proactive in adopting new payment models that lead to patient-oriented services keeping patients safe while fighting cancer and away from costly hospital visits.

Prepare for learning curves. This is where CME professionals can help the team develop new knowledge and skills to identify patients at highest risk, and look for innovative ways to support their complete health and well-being.

Commit to practice transformation. This involves greater patient engagement, addressing disparities in access to care, and increased support for navigating the healthcare system clinically and financially.

Rethink the partners and tools to support these efforts. This may mean changing not only billing practices but also clinical charting and better analytics.

There is a wealth of data pointing to variations and errors in care that can be corrected. For example, one study of post-acute surgical care showed that costs for episodes of care for 3 common procedures may threefold based on physician orders. Another notes that medical errors are the third leading cause of death in the US; changes in the delivery system can reduce these. And that's important to providers. The US government has cut payments to 769 hospitals with high rates of patient injuries.

CME professionals in academic medical centers and hospitals have the opportunity to seize the initiative in developing outcomes-based programs that improve the capability of the healthcare team to deliver high value care to their patients -- and be compensated for it.

EU challenge: Older citizens with chronic diseases

Life expectancy in the European Union has reached 80 years-plus, an increase of 6 years since 1990 -- but the estimate is that 50 million people, mostly older and less well educated, still suffer from several chronic diseases; more than half a million die prematurely. That information appears in a new report , based on an interview with Dr. Vytenis Andriukaitis, European Commissioner of health and human safety. It points a direction for medical specialty societies and their CME directors to emphasize in European, national and local programming.

The report calls for better public health and prevention policies as well as more effective health care to "save hundreds of thousands of lives and billions of euros each year in Europe." Dr. Andriukaitis calls for "changes in how we deliver health care, including developing eHealth, reducing hospital stays and organizing services better in primary and community care." He noted that poor Europeans are on average 10 times more likely than affluent ones to have problems in getting proper care for financial reasons. Another report showed that the Netherlands, UK and Germany have strengthened primary care systems, with improved use of teams and diseases management programs.

Now bribery in India has taken a new turn: Doctors are now getting authorship of studies in internationally peer-reviewed journals as gifts, according to a study in the Indian Journal of Medical Ethics. To say nothing of plagiarism and falsification of data. What next?

The Society for Academic Continuing Education (SACME) will hold its 40th anniversary meeting May 16-20, 2017, in Scottsdale AZ. The theme is "Cutting Edge CPD/CME: US and Beyond US Borders".

A CME professional recently collaborated with his webinar audience to develop 3 "must-do" directions for CME: (1) Shift the focus from information delivery to performance. (2) Be current, valid, reliable and evidence-based. (3) Promote practice and/or patient improvement, not just research findings.

China's healthcare landscape is changing

The Chinese government is working to reshape healthcare delivery, says a recent article. Changes include:-Building a primary care network-Pushing resources from Tier III hospitals to county and district hospitals.-increasing emphasis on cost containment-Permitting pharma companies to partner with provider groups to manage careSome US CME providers have found a way to participate in this huge market -- but the obstacles are many.

The Global Assn. for Family Doctors (WONCA) recently surveyed members in 78 countries on their attitudes toward CME.

Major motivations to do CME are personal/ professional interest, improving efficiency, improving confidence and career progression -- but "mandates" was not high on the list.

What would encourage FPs to spend more than the current average of 1-4 hours a month? More relevant and accessible resources, more time, accreditation of CME, and financial rewards.

Smartphones are the preferred method of accessing data, particularly when with a patient. An Iran study showed that doctors with perceived behavioral control and a positive attitude toward e-learning led them to use more eCME.

Global CME/CPD Newsletter

Keeping Up Around the World

January-February 2017

Dear CME/CPD Colleagues,

Dennis Wentz and I are pleased that the Alliance for Continuing Education in the Health Professions (ACEhp) is designating its Lifetime Achievement Award to honor us, to be known as the Miller Wentz award. We will be recipients at the annual conference Jan. 28 in San Francisco. It's not too late to register at www.acehp.org.

-- Lew Miller Lew@wentzmiller.org

European CME progresses in fits and starts

How is CME in Europe changing? Presentations at the 9th annual European CME Forumindicated:

Clearer and uniform understanding of commercial support. Frank Skopowski of Merck described how independent medical education support differs from company-driven product-specific education, company-initiated professional development programs and collaborative partnerships.Nathalie Paulus of the European Accreditation Council for CME (EACCME) pinpointed EACCME's requirement for independence in planning and delivering accredited CME.

Medical societies developing guidelines to effective CME. The International Council of Ophthalmology is developing such guidelines and willing to share these.

Awareness of global issues in CME. Lisa Sullivan of Australia/Singapore, Vaibhav Srivastava of India and Alvaro Margolis of Uruguay, all board members of the Global Alliance for Medical Education (GAME) discussed issues faced in these differing CME markets, which frequently lag behind in needs assessment and independence from commercial supporters.

Eugene Pozniak, conference director, noted that the UEMS-EACCME new accreditation standards raised more questions than they answered. The new category of Trusted Provider -- allowing a provider to gain rapid approval of programs -- is simply based on volume of programs from a provider, and may exclude providers of high quality education. Nor, he says, do they define "quality".

In his presentation, Joao Grenho, UEMS vice president, noted that what motivates professionals to seek CME is focused more on collecting points and career progression than on performance improvement. He further reported that online education is appreciated by less than 20% of physicians, who prefer local, live events.

Can social media deliver CME?

That question was posed to me recently by the editor of a medical marketing journal. I had to confess I didn't know -- and then did some research. Here's what I found.

A recent article on the web said: "Data show that doctors, nurses and other medical professionals have flocked to tools like Twitter to share their opinions and engage with their peers." This is a generation of health professions aged 40 and under, and they are supplemented by older HCPs who have embraced change, want to learn and to influence others.

With Twitter's 140-character limit (no barrier to Donald Trump), some have embraced Facebook and YouTube (open heart surgery video at left), plus lesser known sites like Medium.com and Quora. Many go to Medium to give or get advice around diagnosis and therapy in specialty areas. Others use Quora in a Q&A format; one topic, Medicine and Healthcare, has over 157,000 questions and 1.6 million followers. Of the top 10 writers on the topic, 7 were HCPs,

In 2013, the UK General Medical Council offered guidelines on how HCPs should use social media; revisions are already needed. To our knowledge there is no accredited CME on these sites. But we would appreciate sharing what you have learned about the use of social media. Send me an email at lew@wentzmiller.org.

The Indian government is dragging its feet on enforcing a code to stop pharma companies from bribing doctors, says a recent report. The code was announced 2 years ago to end handouts of cash, expensive gifts and foreign junkets. It replaces a previous effort that fell by the wayside; now it's happening again.

A new look at malpractice settlements in the US over the past 25 years reveals that fewer than 2% of physicians were responsible for half of these, a total of $41 billion. At the same time, the study shows that only a small percentage of those reporting such settlements lost clinical privileges or were disciplined. Study authors call for action to protect patients from unsafe care.

A new collaborative aims to provide clearer insights into how anti-cancer treatments are used in real-world settings across Europe. The group believes there are major information gaps and inconsistencies in use of therapies for cancer patients. The collaborative is led by QuintilesIMS, a global healthcare information provider, and includes Bristol-Myers Squibb, Eli Lilly, Merck Germany and Pfizer.

Do docs and patients see drug therapy the same way?

Not according to a study by French epidemiologists of patients on long-term medical therapy. They say that nearly 20% of drugs considered important by physicians were not correctly taken by patients.

There's a need, the study says, for better collaboration, which can be developed through CME and patient education programs.

ContextMedia is acquiring AccentHealth to position itself as the largest healthcare decision platform at the point of care in the US, and plans to expand globally.

Its platform seeks to improve comprehension, conversion and compliance of chronic disease treatments. One stuydy reported up to 10% incremental cost savings per Medicare patient after using this technology.

Managing MedEd Processes Globally: A WMGS service

Is your pharmaceutical or medical device company considering how to manage grants or related activities for global or regional independent HCP educational programs? Some MedEd departments are moving in that direction to provide uniform standards of providers, control quality and control costs

. These are issues we can help you deal with:

I. What are your internal roadblocks and external pitfalls?

II. How do you extend your current grant and related processes to other countries / regions

III. Do you need help developing methods to manage grant activities and measure outcomes?

IV. How will you demonstrate budget benefits?

For more information, contact any one of us:

Lew Miller, Principal, 212-933-1027 lew@wentzmiller.org

Greg Paulos, Principal, 623-748-3311 greg@wentzmiller.org

Barbara Pritchard, Principal, 917-881-9685 bpritch887@aol.com

Dennis Wentz MD, Principal, 406-586-9851 dkwentz95@gmail.com

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